Monday, September 30, 2013

This has been our busiest September ever at the SMS (nice to see, given how things usually dip in this month), so let's send it off by clearing out most of our backlogged news items, including some feature profile updates, a new song posting, more assorted notes, and first, all the latest on a unique regional metal concert next month, so here's what you need to know!

Let's start with the latest on next month's Big Loonie Bus Show, the AlgomA-headlined concert at La Cucina (underneath Bucci's Place) in nearby Echo Bay, Ontario on Saturday, October 12th! The promotional push continues with a new poster for the event, hype for a huge merchandise table, and of course, a lot of effort to up the ticket sales. Tickets for the show (complete with a free chocolate loonie, given the location) are now on sale from AlgomA members and at The Rad Zone, and there has been concern at slow sales for the event, which has raised the possibility that promoters Oh! Right Arm! Promotions may not rent the bus designed to charter fans to and from Echo Bay for the concert if not enough people will take advantage. The bus is a great idea to help people get to the event and back without a drunk driving risk, or if you don't have a car, so message promoters or head to The Rad Zone A.S.A.P. to get yours! The band will even deliver tickets TO you, so why not get one? Finally, a new promotional video was posted onto AlgomA's YouTube channel earlier today to hype The Big Loonie Bus Show (also AlgomA's fourth ever, counting the private Tacofest), so what should you know on that?

It mostly features pictures of the performers (including fellow local metal acts The Bear Hunters, Crimson Crusade, and Destroilet) overtop of guitar feedback, along with again hyping a "special bonus attraction", with the end featuring scattered black & white movie footage and 10 seconds of AlgomA's set at The Rosie in June. Effective promotion, so check out the video below, and GET YOUR TICKETS A.S.A.P.! Let's make sure this unique and brutal concert goes off without a hitch, and helps bring more shows to Echo Bay!

Next up, here's the newest song from Blood Shed Productions solo death metal act Brutaly Fatal! Uploaded to the label's YouTube channel on Saturday, this song is named "Cold Pulse", as featured on the Austin McRae-led project's first demo "Acidic Sky's". Like Austin's past solo songs, I get the vibe that this is extremely unfinished, as while he is a good bassist and death growler, there's nothing else to compliment it. At least it's of a solid length, but give this new Brutaly Fatal posting a look below!

Also today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by company or band name:

Local2's Shaylan Spurway was in attendance for last week's Night Ranger/John Waite concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, and wrote this article about the show that was posted onto Local2 yesterday. Oddly focusing mostly on John Waite's set (complete with interview excerpts), 10 photos from the show are also included. Well done overall, despite the lack of Night Ranger talk, so read the full article above!

Also in Local2 updates, it was announced this morning that the parent company of fellow local news website SooToday had purchased Local2, and while the two sites will continue to operate independently, Local2 will now focus on online local television production (similarly to it's original early-2000s format as LTVNews.) We can definitely use more locally-produced television, even if it's aired online, so we'll have to see what comes of this, including possible coverage of metal bands/shows! Click here for more information!

Sault Michigan alternative hard rockers Plastic have parted ways with drummer Paul Burns, as announced on their Facebook page yesterday. Though a reason wasn't announced, Paul stated on his personal Facebook page that he is looking for a new project, and he may be moving out of state (which could be related to his exit.) At least everything sounds amicable, but this is really surprising given Plastic's extensive out of town schedule this fall. Best of luck to Paul in the future, and stay tuned for updates on Plastic's next plans!

Finally for today, here's some updates to some of our monthly feature posts at the SMS! In our Defunct Local Band Profile on Sneaky Pete, I added references to members Mike Oakley & Sean Berlinguette's similar new band Glitch, who launched earlier this month. Moving to our Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles, I updated our Skid Row Battle Profile to replace Kalle Mattson (who no longer feature battle alumni) with newer local rock quartet Nikkfitt (featuring Scary Uncles bassist Andrew MacDonald) in the section on later bands with battle performers, while I also added notes on Sikamikanico drummer Jesse Cook's later battle success as a metal guitarist with Operation: Killdozer & Winkstinger. On our profile of the 2008 Case's Music Battle, I replaced the now-inactive Moves with Stillbroke guitarist Sam DeDominicis' current London-based funk rock band Lucky Widmore in the section on performers' later bands, while I made a similar switch on our YMCA Battle profile to replace Glass Statues keyboardist Benn Garside's old band Lazer Queen with his current band The Hydra's Teeth. Stay tuned for more feature profile updates next month!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and concert previews this week, including this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

As September slowly winds down, we have more news to get to today, so what's in store? New songs from two very different (but death metal-based) Sault Ontario projects, lineup changes from a local thrash band, and leading things off, a new local hard rock album release (and the identity of our next CD review), so read on below to get up to speed!

Haggith drummer Mike Haggith's 47th & newest solo album is now officially on sale! Yes, "Neighbourhood Watch II: Where It Ends" is now available for purchase digitally on Mike's Bandcamp & Reverbnation pages for just $5, which is nice and affordable! A physical pressing is also planned, and if you just want to buy individual songs, they're 99¢ on Reverbnation, but the full album is by far a better deal. All of this was released last Monday, along with the final album artwork that better reflects the "Neighbourhood Watch" aspect of the title (Mike's watch sure has escalated!), and as a result, Mike also deleted & re-uploaded the free YouTube copy of the album to add the new artwork. With the album now on sale, I will now confirm that "Neighbourhood Watch II: Where It Ends" will be our next CD review at The Sault Metal Scene! I chose it over it's predecessor "The Present Din" by virtue of it being heavier, but "The Present Din" remains a review possibility for next year, perhaps if "The Tower" is lighter. Support Mike's diverse alternative hard rock solo material by picking up or streaming "Neighbourhood Watch II" at the above links, and stay tuned for our review hopefully in early October!

Next up, here's the latest lineup news from Sault Ontario thrashers Pillory! First, they've added guitarist Josh Amendola (a.k.a. Jack Parsons) to their lineup, in place of the late Andres Duchesne. A formal statement hasn't been made about his addition, but he's had the Pillory logo on his personal Facebook page since May, and he's quietly been added to their Facebook lineup too. I'm not familiar with Josh as a musician, but I'm very curious to hear how he does live! On the flipside, the band have parted ways with bassist Cole Royal, and they are currently looking for a replacement. This was announced by drummer Bret Shuttleworth on their Facebook page on September 19th, and though a reason for Cole's departure hasn't been announced, he didn't play at their partial return set at Grinded Live In Your Ears last month. Disappointing that he left, especially after only a few months, but best of luck to Cole in the future! The band are hoping to find a bassist who's dedicated, interested in their music, and seriously wants to jam, so if you're interested, message the band at the above links or through members' personal Facebook pages, and stay tuned for more as it comes in!

We'll close today's post with new song uploads, starting with a metallized cover by Bear Hunters/Suicide Kings guitarist Mitch Sirie! Uploaded to his solo project The Sorrow Fields' YouTube channel on Thursday, this is a death metal cover of Billy Talent's "Devil In A Midnight Mass", which he recorded as a way to get reacquainted with recording for The Sorrow Fields' first album. Featuring Mitch on vocals & all instruments (plus programmed drums), he may re-record this due to clarity issues, but it's a definite improvement on the original to me! I've never been high on Billy Talent, so there's admittedly a bias there, but it has a punk edged brutality that works well, so give Mitch's first cover upload a listen below!

Finally for today, new local goregrind project Rotopsy (formerly Spitneck) have had two songs from their upcoming three-way split demo from Blood Shed Productions uploaded to the label's YouTube channel yesterday! Entitled "Transfusion of a Reverse Rectaloctopathy" and (as embedded below) "Let Us Rot", the descriptions finally tell us more on the project, which is indeed another band from label head Ringsnaps Gibson (on bass & programming), with new collaborator Dylan Taylor on lead vocals. If you throw The Fury & Crucify The Whore in a blender, and this would probably be what results, and though the vocals are unintelligible and almost sound like random coughs and grunts, but the music's well programmed. Give Rotopsy's newest songs a look above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

On this nice Saturday in the Twin Saults, we have some big news to cover, so what's on tap? Along with an archive video discovery and more recent items, we have some long awaited new audio samples from a prominent local metal band, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so read on below for what you need to know!

The fifth annual Soo Zombie Walk returns to terrorize downtown Sault Ste. Marie next month, albeit now on the Halloween weekend (Saturday, October 26th) rather than the weekend before to better associate it with other seasonal events. Aside from the date change, the host venue has also changed from The Grand Theater to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, which is still downtown but in a bigger location with more parking, so this could work out well logistically! With that said, the fourth annual Soo Zombie Walk Afterparty will also be held at the Bushplane Museum this year after the walk wraps up, and while there hasn't been an official announcement from The Arts Council, Sykotyk Rampage & Haggith will apparently return from last year's afterparty to rock out with the zombies once again! For Sykotyk Rampage (who released an album named "Zombiez" last year), this will be their third straight year this event, while Haggith (who are working on a follow-up to their zombie-themed CD "Apocalypse") also played a fitting set at last year's afterparty, so both will be great fits with their alternative hard rock sounds this year!

My source for their participation is this Sykotyk Rampage-created Facebook event page, and no word yet on if The Salty Mollies or a local DJ will be back from the last 2 years or if any other bands are scheduled. Admission details have yet to be confirmed, but last year, it started after 9:00 PM, with a $10 admission & a 19+ age limit, so it could be similar. Check the above links for more details, including on the zombie walk itself! Despite the more seasonal scheduling, it now conflicts with The Halloween Party at The Rosie, so I probably won't be in attendance for the afterparty this year, but hopefully it's a huge hit in it's new location, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's the latest preview video from local progressive death metal notables Gates of Winter, who are still slowly at work on their second EP & third CD "Perihelion"! Their first audio sample in 5 months was uploaded to their YouTube channel on Monday, and it's bookended with what could be previews of new artwork for the final product, but the meat of the video has fast-motion shots of the computer production along with samples from the EP. Commentary from a band member (likely bassist Steve Furgiuele) notes that while this has been a slow process, and he's returned to university this year, they're nearing the end, and are excited to work "beyond Perihelion", presumably referring to later studio work, ending with "The silence breaks soon." As I've said before, a lesser band than Gates of Winter likely would have thrown in the towel by now thanks to the incredibly slow recording process and almost 5 year break from concerts, but this 86 second preview clip (which is very technical & heavy) should whet fans appetites in the meantime!

Will we hear more before the end of the year, or will 2014 be the year of resurrection? Fans have been patient for this long, but we'll have to see what happens when things finally conclude, so stay tuned for updates when they come in, and here's Gates of Winter's newest sample video!

Also, here's one more archive video discovery from Nikkfitt guitarist Robert Ross' YouTube channel! This comes from a band of his in 2000 during a concert at the Harmony Beach Lakeview Resort in nearby Goulais River, and it's a cover of The Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla", complete with some fades and transition effects. It's a solid cover of these hard rock legends, and everyone has clear talent, but like with Robert's Hempfest video, I know next to nothing on this band. Let me know if you have any information, and give this 13 year old cover clip a look below! (Just in case you're curious, the woman in the shot below isn't a band member, she walked into the frame.)

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last couple of days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name.

Are As It Stands returning from their year+ break? In the first post on their Facebook page since January, a band member hyped that it's "gettin' to be about that time, kiddies", and the band is "coming to you this winter." We haven't seen these local hardcore favourites since the Dead & Divine show in August 2012 (their only show in the past 16 months), but we'll have to see what exactly comes of this as more details are announced. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted!

Ex-State of Misery drummer Nick Kainula is now looking to join a new local band, as per the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday. He didn't cite any direct preferences beyond his past experience, but he is a skilled player, so message him at this link or above if you're interested in him trying out! Note that I still don't have 100% proof that his most recent band With Blood Build Character (formerly Unbound) are done, but they've been quiet since the spring.

The Rockstar Bar's James Scott asked fans on their Facebook group this morning what fans would want or like to see at this downtown bar/concert venue. This could lead to anything, but if you wanna voice your opinion for more new metal/hard rock concerts, reply to James' thread there via the above links! (No word though on if this would apply to downstairs events at The Algonquin Pub.)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news & notes tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Well, we better start clearing out some back news tonight before I've flooded with it, and thankfully, I have more reason to thanks to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW! So I've supplemented it with some more assorted recent news items, and if a big story you've been expecting isn't here, don't worry, it's coming! Sometimes you have to hold some things to give them the optimal coverage they deserve. Now, read on below for the latest news, notes, and videos!

Young Sault Michigan metal quartet Tantrym Tyme will apparently be playing a tailgate party of some kind TOMORROW outside of Pullar Stadium before the Soo EaglesNAHL hockey game! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this on their Facebook page earlier today, and the Eagles have not mentioned it either. Tomorrow's game marks the second of a three night home stand between the Soo Eagles and the Johnstown Tomahawks, and it's at least the second time that Tantrym Tyme have played a live set to coincide with an Eagles game, also doing so in March for a game over their military & parents weekend. The Rock Till You Drop winners will be playing outside and behind the arena (at 435 East Portage Avenue) tomorrow at 5:00 PM, and it's obviously all ages given the setting, but while I don't figure there will be an admission charge for their tailgate set, the game itself has it's own fees and times, so click here for information if you're looking at going, and check the above links for more details!

It's great to see Tantrym Tyme keeping busy with another high profile concert set, and hopefully they can convert some Eagles fans into fans of their own tomorrow before the game! Remember, the Eagles play the same level of hockey as the Soo Thunderbirds on the Ontario side of the border, and they both played together in the NOJHL until the end of the 2011-2012 season. Don't miss Tantrym Tyme's latest concert tomorrow, and for a preview, here's the guys covering Pantera & Iron Maiden last year!

Now to some more videos to clear out of our news cache, starting with something a little different: an interview with Dayglo Abortions frontman Murray "The Cretin" Acton from their headlining show at The Roosevelt Hotel earlier this month! Uploaded to the YouTube channel of Boyd Rendell (a.k.a. AlgomA frontman Darby Wigwaus) on Wednesday, the interview is done by former Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Strange, where they talk about how The Dayglo Abortions' tour was going, standout moments from the tour, the two year gap between local stops, the band's message to leave to local fans, their next album plans, and more. Sabrina needs more experience as an interviewer, but she came across as kind and invested in the discussion, and the video is well put together! Along with some titles and credits (plus a plug for Darby's Big Loonie Bus Show next month in Echo Bay), the video also includes three clips from the show itself, two bookending the interview, and one about 3:50 into the video for a few seconds.

The last clip will likely be the most interesting, as it's a video from the show of The Dayglo Abortions playing "Kill Cunt Brain" (they titled it, not me), and compared to the earlier abbreviated clips, this is from behind the crowd rather than a near side-stage angle. Solid audio, if dark, and it's a nice capper to this video! Check out Sabrina's interview and more below, and for reference, it begins a minute in ends about 4:50 in!

Also today, here's a new demo of a Theatre of Night original song by keyboardist Craig Harrison! Uploaded to his YouTube channel on Tuesday,
it's a short two minute clip of his part for their song "Twilight of the
Gods", with the camera focused on his hands while playing (and with a
colour filter overtop, presumably for effect/mood.) It's a well done
composition, dark and fitting for one of their songs, so give it a look
below!

Finally for today, here's an archive video find courtesy of the YouTube channel of Nikkfitt guitarist Robert Ross, courtesy of what appears to be an old edition of Hempfest in nearby Ophir, Ontario! I have no idea what band this is (or even if Robert's playing on stage), but it's a live cover (likely from 2009 or earlier) of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite" with at least two guest backing singers. The description implies there was 2,000 people there, which I can see during the annual marijuana culture festival's peak, and it's a solid cover on a good quality stationary camera, so if you love Kiss or old local videos, give this one a look, and if you can identify anything extra on the date or band, let me know!

That's definitely all for today, but stay tuned for a big news post tomorrow featuring some long overdue updates! Thanks everyone!

In what's likely our last weekend concert preview post of September 2013, we're focusing on Sault Michigan only today, including some new videos from a major recent concert across the river! As usual, read on below for all the details, starting with the show previews for this weekend!

We'll start with newer hard rock trio Plastic's newest concert, which sees them debut at The Merchant's Bar in Sault Michigan TONIGHT! Their only upcoming local concert date scheduled at present (though they're playing all over Michigan and even in Wisconsin through early December), the band featuring Half Stupid, Cherubic Red, and Hammerspace alumni are hyping "lots of fun stuff up our little sleeves" for tonight's show, so if you're in the mood for a mix of grunge, alternative, and hard rock covers & originals, be at The Merch tonight! There's no announced cover charge for this 21+ show, and there's a 9:00 PM start time advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Even if Plastic's announced opening set for The Misfits in Detroit had to be called off (for financial reasons), the guys are on a surprisingly fast rise & spread in the region, and if there's no other local dates imminent, hopefully this satiates fans well! For a preview, here's Plastic covering Black Flag's "Can't Decide" at LemmaFest!

Lastly for this weekend's heavier concert previews (barring any late notice ones), local modern hard rock quintet RamWagon will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT for their second ever concert weekend at this popular local venue! Their only 2013 Sault Kewadin dates that weren't picked up from the now defunct Sir Charge, this rising local band (featuring 4 ex-members each of Full Throttle and Analog Deficiency) should have two nights full of diverse covers for their fans and revelers at The Rapids Lounge, so don't miss out on their latest regional concerts this weekend! Both have no announced cover charge, both are 21+ events, and both should start at around 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links! These should be solid concerts, so don't miss them, and for a preview, here's RamWagon's only known online video, a cover of Cameo's "Word Up" from LemmaFest that we can only now share here thanks to Facebook now allowing external video embedding!

We'll close this post with new videos from the Night Ranger concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino from this past Sunday night! We'll start with new videos from YouTube user Chuck G. (a.k.a. Goblue610), who posted four clips from the show onto his YouTube channel yesterday, joining prior uploads from the most recent Tesla concert across the river. Two are of opener John Waite playing his solo hit "Missing You" and covering his old band The Babys' "Every Time I Think Of You", but the Night Ranger videos are of "Sister Christian" (of course) and, as embedded below, "(You Can Still) Rock In America"! Though this is one of the heaviest Night Ranger videos I've seen from the show, the quality suffers on each thanks to choppy video movements and staticy audio (plus, the video below isn't complete.) Chuck had a great angle though, and the lighting's bright, so give his videos from Sunday night a look above & below!

As for the other videos, these come from YouTube user Sharon SanAngelo's channel again, who we previously mentioned the Night Ranger videos of on Wednesday. As I alluded to then, she also filmed 6 videos of John Waite's opening set, including "Missing You" and four Babys covers, so if you like that band, there you go! That said, the songs from his set don't tend to stray into hard rock territory (unless there was a Bad English cover that I missed) but fans did get at least one taste when he covered Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" on Sunday! He can pull it off, and the quality's good, but the problem is that the video's only 28 seconds long. Enjoy what Sharon did film though below and at the above links, and hopefully someone got this in full!

That's all for now, but stay tuned either tonight or tomorrow as we start clearing out a lot of stockpiled news stories that have gathered over the past week! Thanks everyone!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Now, let's tackle this weekend's local metal/hard rock concert previews! Due to the amount, I've broken them up between the Twin Saults, so an all Sault Michigan preview post is on it's way tomorrow morning. As for today, we have a few other assorted news items at the bottom, but first, let's preview the Sault Ontario hard rock shows this weekend, including some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

New local hard rock/punk quartet The Danger Cats will play their second ever live concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Speak Easy at Algoma University! Apologies for the short notice, this was only briefly announced on their Facebook page on Tuesday, with research and some direct word filling in the gaps. The first Speak Easy gig we've had on here in quite a while, this will apparently be a part of an annual video game pub being held by the Anime & Gamers Guild of Algoma tomorrow night (disregard references to it being a "Traffic Light Pub" on Algoma University's website), so attendees are encouraged to wear video game costumes and play games on systems and TVs set up in the bar. From what I've been told, The Danger Cats will be dressed up at Super Mario Bros. characters to fit the theme, and hopefully tomorrow's show is a unique hit on their early resume! Admission will be $3 in advance or $5 at the door, a 9-10:00 PM start time for their set seems logical, and while I assume this is 19+, the university might allow underagers with student ID entry too.

Check the above links for more details, and best of luck for sure tomorrow, as this is definitely a different sort of event, but The Danger Cats' all female edge should benefit them at the pub! For a preview, here's a (now embeddable) Facebook video of their cover of Gary Glitter/Joan Jett's "Do You Wanna Touch Me" at The Algonquin Pub earlier this month! Though shot & posted by Haggith drummer Mike Haggith onto his personal Facebook page, he shared it on the band's Facebook page, so it's fair game. Solid performance of one of their later and stronger songs, though the side angle and video quality aren't optimal. Don't miss The Danger Cats at The Speak Easy tomorrow!

Also in new concerts this weekend, classic hard rock quintet (and Turner Up successors) The Thrill Junkies will make their first stops at Docks Riverfront Grill TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT for a full weekend of rocking tunes! Apologies for the short notice, the Facebook event page for this show was only just posted on Tuesday, so I held it for our concert preview posts. Fresh off their generally successful Roosevelt Hotel debuts last weekend, these latest shows mark our first concert alerts for Docks since the spring, so it's great to see this upscale downtown venue bringing back harder edged bands! The Thrill Junkies have been making waves since their local debut, so don't miss this veteran quintet's diverse but heavy cover selection at Docks this weekend! Admission should be in the $4 range for both nights, which have 19+ age limits and 10:00 PM start times. Check the above links for more details, and when videos turn up of their live shows to further preview The Thrill Junkies with, we'll have them here!

Now to the only previously announced hard rock concert of the weekend, as Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will once again bring his unplugged solo show to The Road House Bar & Grill on Trunk Road TOMORROW NIGHT! We first heard about this show a couple weeks ago in a Facebook e-mail from Tym himself, but he only just launched it's Facebook event page yesterday, keeping with his usual couple days buffer between it's posting and the actual event. Tomorrow's concert is the same as usual for Tym's non-customer appreciation gigs at this East End venue, so if you want to enjoy some metal & hard rock covers in an acoustic and more intimate setting, you know exactly where to be tomorrow! There's no announced cover charge for this 19+ event, and a 10:00 PM start time is in effect. For more details, visit the above links! With shows for October still unknown, don't miss Tym's latest unplugged solo show at The Road House tomorrow night, and for a preview, here's his cover of Extreme's "More Than Words" with ex-Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc!

Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted stories from the last little while, and these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

Former J.A.B. guitarist Gerald McKinnon is looking for a lead guitarist to complete an alternative rock band he's started. Candidates must have professional gear and past music experience. This could be for a heavier project, but if you're interested, message Gerald at this link or via his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from last week!

Skeyes of Seven drummer Jonny Amendola is ready to play live concerts again following his open heart surgery for a leaking heart valve last month, as his other band (pop rock cover band Cherry Crush) will return to the stage after a few months off this weekend at The Rockstar Bar, though no word yet on when Skeyes of Seven will play live next. Awesome news, and hopefully Jonny's feeling good and back to normal after that health scare!

Shit Liver singer/guitarist Josh Penno quietly moved to Toronto earlier this month, as announced on his personal Facebook page the other day. From what I have read, this is not a death knell for the band, and there are future plans in store, but we'll have to see what that entails when they're publically announced. Either way, best of luck to Josh in Toronto, and keep on rocking!

Well guys, this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile has a change of band. I'd originally planned to look at Kitchener hard rock project Malicious Side Effect due to the members' past work with local guitarist Keith Conway, but on further research, I found out that was in a different older band named Camaro, so it wouldn't fit the series to look at M.S.E.. Instead, I've bumped my planned band for next month (our second tribute band in this series) to today to look at, and like our past selections, this band features at least one Saultite in their past and/or present lineups, even though they're not regionally based. Read on below for this month's profile! (Updated on November 27th, 2014)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Damage Inc. (Lethbridge, Alberta)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics. The lineup information is incomplete regarding the identity of Damage Inc's first drummer[s]. E-mail me if you can fill in any blanks!)

Local Info: Damage Inc. is the newest project from Sault Ontario native and talented multi-instrumentalist Paul
Melanson, who's been a steady sight in his current home of Lethbridge, Alberta since the mid-late 2000s. You may recognize him from his most recent original band Caste of Shadows, but he's also attracted notice for his guitar & bass work in bands like Daemon Rage, Igniter, and Gravity Crash, along with work as a singer and guitarist in older local bands like Malediction, Gutwrench, and Under The
Gun. Paul's busy with his current bands, but he's keeping things heavy, so if you're out west, give his bands a look!

Band Bio:Launched in May 2012, Metallica tribute band Damage Inc. are a self-described "hard-hitting tribute to heavy metal's most successful act." They played their first live gigs in Lethbridge in October 2012, and have since played numerous solo and joint concerts in the Lethbridge & Calgary areas, including events in British Columbia, shows with other tribute bands, and even coinciding with the Calgary Stampede. Their lineup has been stable since their live debut, save for Mick Friday's injury-related exit in May of 2013, when Paul Melanson replaced him. Still frequently seen across Alberta, Damage Inc. show no signs of slowing down! When it comes to tribute bands, they do have the musical side of things well to match up with Metallica, but Mark Di Giorgio's vocals aren't a perfect fit (they almost sound more fitting of a full on NWOBHM band.) Metallica fans who can't see the real thing should enjoy Damage Inc. though, as they have a solid and very heavy take on the original songs!

For videos, frontman Mark Di Giorgio has two different YouTube channels of their live concerts (here and here) to sample Damage Inc.'s live show, where you can see the band's live skill, including Paul's bass talents! I chose this video of Damage Inc. covering "Master of Puppets" to feature here, as it's pretty solid overall (despite some minor lyrical flubs), so give it a look below!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month's profile will be our last before we update past installments in November, and it will look at inactive Illinois metal band Life In Shadow, whose frontman was current Bury Your Demons bassist (and Sault Michigan native) Scott Mills! This will be out first profile in this series since January to look at a band with a Yooper alum, so watch out for it on or around October 26th, and stay tuned later today for weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Before our two post Thursday (featuring this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile and this weekend's concert previews), we have videos to touch on from the most recent major hard rock concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as San Francisco's own Night Ranger rocked the Soo this past Sunday! At least four different attendees filmed videos that were uploaded to YouTube in the last few days, so let's dedicate this post to them, starting with two videos from Wawa author and frequent Kewadin concert attendee Duane Roy! Uploaded to his YouTube channel yesterday, he filmed Night Ranger covering The Damn Yankees' "High Enough" and (as embedded below) playing "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", and he got a good central angle of the band! There are people's heads in the way somewhat, and there isn't much in the way of zooming, but the audio quality's solid, and if you missed the show, this is a nice way to hear some of their classic material! Give Duane's video of "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" a look below, and see more above!

YouTube user Sharon SanAngelo was also on hand on Sunday, filming no less than 15 videos of both Night Ranger and opener John Waite at the concert (and uploading them to her YouTube channel yesterday), though I'll note that all but one come in at 1:33 or shorter in length for unknown reasons. We'll touch on the John Waite videos in an upcoming post (especially considering one of the covers), but as for Sharon's Night Ranger videos? She got 9 in total, though one is just of guitarist Jack Blades introducing their cover of The Damn Yankees' "Coming of Age". The other 8 are evenly split between originals & covers, including the aforementioned covers of "Coming of Age" & "High Enough", and renditions of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Don Henley's "Boys of Summer", along with their originals "Goodbye", "When You Close Your Eyes", "Sister Christian" (which is the only one to be shot in full), and the video embedded below, "Sentimental Street"!

Sharon had a further angle from the action, and these videos are generally too short, but she got a good sound quality on her camera, and Kelly Keagy's voice has held up nicely! I'm also a bit surprised by the amount of covers (even if Jack was in The Damn Yankees), but she got a solid sampling of the night, and be sure to check out her Night Ranger videos above! Stay tuned for the John Waite clips, give her channel a look for more general rock videos from past Kewadin concerts, and here's "Sentimental Street"!

Now, why didn't I share her "Sister Christian" video when it was by far the longest? Because the other two channels with Night Ranger videos only filmed that classic song, so I wouldn't want to weigh this post heavily on just one track! Attendee Loris Rugolo (who previously uploaded videos from the Sebastian Bach show at Kewadin Casino in January) uploaded a video of "Sister Christian" onto his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's really solid! After catching the band member introductions, he got solid video of their biggest hit (complete with nice crowd sing-along moments), though I think he put that auto-stability filter on the video, so it has an odd floaty feeling to it. Nice angle too, with minimal intrusive crowd member heads, so check out Loris' "Sister Christian" video below!

The last video I have is also of "Sister Christian", this time from YouTube user Dale Bowerman, as uploaded to his YouTube channel the night of the show. More of a side-stage angle this time, it's the closest yet to Night Ranger (particularly of Kelly's drumkit), but it has the worst quality, coming through very staticy with somewhat fuzzy video as well. It's still worth checking out for the angle, but there are higher quality videos of this song from Sunday, so keep note of that. Give Dale's video of "Sister Christian" a look below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile tomorrow morning, with weekend concert previews following! Thanks everyone!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Keeping the news coming on this Tuesday afternoon, we have a special mid-week concert preview, a new solo performance video find, and more assorted news items to touch on, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so read on below for more details! (Updated at 9:04 PM)

New all-female punk/hard rockers The Danger Cats will make their Roosevelt Hotel debut on Monday, October 7th when they open for Montreal ska-punk quintet K-Man and the 45s! Though not a metal band, K-Man & the 45s are well known for their party atmosphere and energetic live shows, along with last year's Ramones tribute album, so where else will you hear ska covers of those legends in the Soo? Interesting contrast having The Danger Cats open, but their debut last weekend was well received, and they have a unique sound (plus some new songs) that should find a solid audience, so don't miss out! This show (which is promoted by J.D. Pearce) has a $7 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time, while nothing has been said about possible additional openers. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! There's definitely an interesting mix of styles for this show on the 7th, but The Danger Cats will bring some harder edged stuff, so keep this one in mind for next month, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's a special preview for a concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith will kick off a run of one show a month through the fall season at The New American Pub House on Bay Street! This recently renovated downtown venue has really started opening things up to heavier bands in recent months, and though it remains to be seen how successful this run of shows will be, Haggith's fun and edgy original material & covers should be welcomed tomorrow! Local punk trio The Northern Tragedy and local solo alternative bassist James Watterworth (replacing the newly reunited Havadder) will also make their New A debut (and first live appearances of the fall) tomorrow as the openers, and they should fit in well themselves, so don't show up late! Admission tomorrow night will be $4, you must be 19 to attend, and there is a 9:00 PM start time. For more details, check the above links!

Hopefully this is the start of a solid relationship for Haggith at The New A, so if you can't make their shows next month, you should make a point to be at this one! Stay tuned for updates (including confirmation of their rumoured return to the Soo Zombie Walk afterparty), and for a preview, here's Haggith at The Oddfellows Hall earlier this summer!

Speaking of Haggith at The New A, here's a recent video discovery from a member of their openers on October 20th, as Nikkfitt guitarist Robert Ross has a YouTube channel with some SMS-fitting videos from his past music work! Two of the videos are of live band performances that we'll touch on in an upcoming post, but this first video (from May 2012) is of him playing an improvised guitar piece in G minor, and it's really good! Very clear talent and ability, and this is a good sign for Nikkfitt's live show, though we're still waiting to find out what exactly they play. Check out Robert's solo guitar video below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name

Remember CML Productions, the film production company ran by Christopher Lance that helped produce Garden of Bedlam's early music videos? They appear to be back in operation (as per this Facebook page), albeit with a completely new focus, now generally doing only wedding cinematography. Interesting shift, but their new work is well done in it's area, so if you're getting married, keep CML Productions in mind!

I've renamed inactive Central Algoma hard rock sextet Durera to their older name The Diego Experience in our local band links, as they were more successful and active longer under that name. In the cases of defunct/inactive bands with name changes in our links, I try to list them under the name they'd be best known for, such as for Stillbroke, who did not attain the same successes or longevity under their last name Borderline Divine. So in case anything looks different, now you know!

Asylum Country guitarist & local metal band alum Terry Eaton is looking for a rock singer "with a good set of pipes", as per the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Friday. I assume this is for a new rock band he's starting (perhaps heavier), but few details are known beyond that. Message Terry at this link or above if you're interested in trying out!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more updates this week! Thanks everyone!

Monday, September 23, 2013

We're back with some news and updates on this Monday afternoon, so what's on tap? We have a new song upload, band additions for a bunch of upcoming fall concerts, and our recap of a concert I caught a portion of on Friday night, but first, something a little more serious that we should acknowledge that you may have heard about this weekend.

I thought I should start by offering our best wishes to Frightlight guitarist and prolific local drummer Rick "Styles" White, who was hospitalized following an incident at The Thrill Junkies' show at The Roosevelt Hotel on Friday night. Details are murky on what happened, but from what I've read on Facebook, there was some type of altercation that required an ambulance be called to The Rosie. Last I heard, he was still in the hospital, but he is in good spirits, and that's definitely great to hear! However, his injuries appear to be bad enough to knock him out of concerts through at least late next month, as Frightlight have been forced to drop out of frontman Johnny Pints' annual Halloween Party at The Roosevelt Hotel on October 26th, which would have been their fifth straight set at this annual Halloween weekend event since their 2009 debut. Replacing them will be Johnny's newest local band Jack Spades (featuring T-Rex Manning's Tiffany Stocco & The Bear Hunters' Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger), and they'll have a set tailored to Halloween to fit the evening, so don't miss them!

I assume this will also take Rick out of next week's Ray Brown benefit show at The Verdi Hall (which he is scheduled to play with Redundant), but this has yet to be officially confirmed. Out of respect to Rick & his family, I'm in no position to say anything further, and for new info that doesn't affect his bands or shows, we won't cover it here for that reason, including any possible criminal/legal fallout. After all, we're a site about local metal/hard rock news, not TMZ. Get well soon Rick, we're pulling for you!

Next up, here's what I caught from Friday night's debut performance by new local rock cover band Glitch! After The Hydra's Teeth wrapped up downstairs, I bolted upstairs to The Rockstar Bar to catch the last chunk of Glitch's second set, so what'd I see? From what I was there for, Glitch covered U2, Beatles, and Rolling Stones songs, and all were sung by guitarist Mark Oliverio, who has a solid voice! Still, those songs may not scream "hard rock", but Glitch did cover Godsmack, Pearl Jam, and Aerosmith earlier in that set, and there was roughly an even split between harder covers and more general stuff, but as I wasn't there for the bookending sets, I can't speak to their other material. I will note that drummer Mike Oakley had his headset mic on, so he does appear to sing at least some songs with this new band (a'la Sneaky Pete.) The crowd was fun and large for their set, and the members talents were strong, but there could be more energy as a whole, with Marco Pedalino often appearing to be very reserved & quiet on stage.

I like what I heard, but I'll definitely have to see more of Glitch's live show to get a fuller sense of their set and sound, especially to hear how they handle heavier songs, but all 4 members have histories in such bands, so that shouldn't be a problem. I did get some photos while there, so click here or visit our Facebook page to check them out, and I also uploaded a video from the show onto Facebook, so here's their cover of The Rolling Stones' "Doom & Gloom"!

Also today, here's some updates on opening bands for local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith's announced slate of fall concerts! Despite earlier hints of fellow PaperClip Productions bands opening for them in their series of upcoming New American Pub gigs, two of the three will be opened by unaffiliated bands, including local punk trio The Northern Tragedy THIS WEDNESDAY (our preview of that is coming tomorrow) and new local rock band Nikkfitt (pictured) on Friday, October 20th! Though their genre and setlist is still unknown, their lineup includes singer/band namesake Nikki Bryant, guitarists Jacques Marceau (ex-Caveman Morrison) and Robert Ross (who I believe replaced Dutch Vanderploeg in the band), bassist Andrew MacDonald (ex-Fitswitch/Scary Uncles), and drummer Glenn Lavoie. The lineup has a lot of promise based on what I know of them, but we'll have to see how they sound, so stay tuned for updates! They have also joined Haggith among the performers for the Jack Bryant benefit show at The Rockstar Bar on Thursday, October 3rd, where they'll play alongside two more new confirmations, those being The 7 Year Itch (a.k.a. Griphook minus Brian Oja, as last seen at The Rockstar Bar in July), and local country band Thin Ice in an acoustic set.

No word on why this won't be a full Griphook set, but there's now a nice diverse lineup for the Jack Bryant benefit, and I believe Nikki Bryant was his daughter in law, so they fit extra well for that event! Keep an eye out for updates on these shows as they come in (including a possible opener for Haggith's show at The New A on November 22nd), and stay tuned tomorrow for our preview of Wednesday's Haggith/Northern Tragedy show there!

Finally for today, here's the latest song from local solo grind/gore project Malignant Neoplasm, as uploaded to their label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel on Sunday! Entitled "Retinoblastoma" (a type of eye cancer), this IS planned to be on "Blood Shed's Bloody 3 Way" demo with fellow label artists Brutaly Fatal & Rotopsy (formerly Spitneck.) A short 45 second track, it has no discernable vocals, but a lot of programmed blast beats and is clearly heavy, it's just not something I can accurately comment on given it's length. Check it out below though!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Haggith concert preview and more tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

It's now time for our latest YouTube Channel Profile at the SMS! This is, of course, our monthly look at 1-3 YouTube channels featuring at least a 50% concentration of local metal-relevant videos, and like past installments, the following channel was randomly chosen. This month, we're looking at a regional high school's Dunnplugged-esque concert series mainly via a channel that filmed a lot of videos there, so read on below for videos, info, and more on this month's profiled YouTube channel!
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Channel Timeline: Launched on June 19th, 2007; Videos posted from February 2008 through December 2010

Channel Summary: One of the largest sources for YouTube videos from the CASS Cafe live music series at Central Algoma Secondary School in nearby Desbarats, Ontario, 2/3rds of A.J.'s 21 videos came from CASS Cafe sets by various performers (himself included) between the spring of 2008 and the spring of 2010. Most are of unnamed bands playing covers (generally metal songs), but 5 come from A.J.'s then-hard rock band The Diego Experience, one video is of an early Crimson Crusade lineup, and another is a drum solo by then-student Mike Christie. A.J.'s other videos (including his last 4) are mostly of outdoor activities like fishing, but two of his early uploads were solo guitar performances.

Why Should You Watch: Fans of the CASS Cafe series would be well served to check out A.J.'s channel, as there's some quality performances and solid early glimpses at future prominent metal musicians there, including later members of For All That Is Lost and Late & Loud! A.J. also shown talent in his solo videos, but keep in mind that the quality varies across the music clips on this channel (these were still high school students, after all.) Note as well that A.J. hasn't used this channel in over a year, or posted any videos in almost three years, in case that changes your mind on subscribing.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Seek and destroy by our band lol at CASS CAFE: A.J.'s last concert video on his channel, this April 2010 cover of Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" at CASS features current Crimson Crusade bandmates Devon Lucier (on vocals & guitar) and Robert Crossley (on drums) alongside A.J. on guitar and ex-Column Ruins bassist Travis Garside. Well filmed by a concert attendee, this is a solid cover that shows their musical growth well, with a nice guitar solo from A.J. and fitting vocals by a then-long haired Devon (I wonder why he doesn't sing straight thrash anymore?) As a precursor to later music work, this is a good video to check out, and hopefully we hear more from these guys in music soon! (For more from Devon & Robert, click here for their early Crimson Crusade cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight".)

Alex, Andy, Benn, Mike and Tom all playin Bed Of RaZoRs CASS: The most viewed of A.J.'s music uploads is this instrumental cover of Children of Bodom's "Bed of Razors" from a CASS Cafe practice session in May 2008. Featuring guitarists Alex Pierce & Andy Turbin, bassist Tom Leindecker,
drummer Mike Christie, and keyboardist Benn Garside (now The Hydra's Teeth's bassist), this cover (his first from a CASS performance) is well performed and suitably brutal, especially from Alex, but comments indicate that the full version from the actual event was better. Uniquely, this was also shot on multiple camera angles, but the cuts can be jarring (especially concerning the audio), and Benn is barely visible. Still, this is a quality cover that brings the metal even without vocals!

crazy train and other metal riffs: Among A.J.'s early uploads to his channel in 2008 were two solo cover videos, one being an audio-only take of Ozzy Osbourne's "Diary of a Madman". The other (embedded below) features him playing various metal riffs (mainly Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train") in what appears to be his room. Though he admits playing them too fast, they sound pretty good, but it'd be nice to hear more solos and get more distinction between the covers (plus, the "One" cover broke the flow somewhat.) Solid riffing and guitar work even still, and it's be nice to see A.J. playing live music again (also, nice lights in the guitar!)

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! So, what channel's next in this series for October? For the first time in 8 months, we'll be looking at 3 different YouTube channels, as the first one we randomly selected only had 3 very similar videos, and the second only had one entirely. With that said, our next profiles will look at the channels of Toast/Galactic Alignment guitarist Mike Libertoski (his most recent one, with three solo guitar covers), YouTube user canadianchic29 (featuring a live Caveman Morrison video), and former T.E.N. mainman Tyler Gibson (featuring three of their original demos), so watch out for all of that on or around October 22nd! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week! Thanks everyone!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Now, here's our review of last night's Hydra's Teeth-headlined concert at The Algonquin Pub! Solid turnout (especially given that two of the bands were debuting), and everything was in good order yesterday, with setu-up and tear-down done very efficiently & fast, but did I manage to make it upstairs to see Glitch's debut? I'll have more on that probably by Monday, but for now, check out our review below, and check out a late notice concert alert for TONIGHT at The Rockstar Bar and more recent updates in the post below this one!

Opening the show was new local all-female rockers The Danger Cats, so what should you know on their set? It definitely leaned towards hard rock sounds, with covers of Runways, Joan Jett, and Misfits songs joining Go-Gos and Ramones renditions, and they had the rocker look down (complete with cat ears for most of them.) Musically, they clearly improved as the night went on, and the fans dancing during their last two songs was a neat sight! They do have talent as musicians, and I'm impressed with how fast Jamie Jaguar and Kate Kougar have gotten the hang of their current instruments, but the band's overall stage presence needs to be looser, and Summer Snow-Leopard was often hard to hear when singing. Also, I don't know if the Beatles songs they did are the best fit for their genre and look, they should look at later Beatles songs that have more of a bite to them. Solid first outing for The Danger Cats though, and it's great to see Sault Ontario getting some added girl power compared to Sault Michigan! (And yes, they're now in our active Sault Ontario band links!)

Second last night was the only non-debuting band of the night, grunge/alternative quartet Haggith, and they pumped out another entertaining mix of covers and originals for fans last night! Setlist-wise, they debuted a new original song named "Metal Cage", and also played a new cover of Led Zeppelin's "Fool In The Rain", but the rest of the set (including originals like "Leon the Janitor" and "75", and covers of Jimi Hendrix & Cheap Trick songs) will be familiar to Haggith concert regulars. Aside from a guitar hiccup during "Clifton Hill", the guys were on fire, and it was nice seeing Curtis McKenzie break out the keyboard on a few songs to shake things up (though the amount of lyric sheets present is still a bit odd.) Daniel Horton's guitar work was solid as ever, and Mike Haggith continues to express vibrant energy and enthusiasm when drumming, and it all added up well for their set! If anything, I was disappointed by the lack of fans up front compared to the bands bookending them, but by the end, we were all hailing Haggith, and with good reason!

Headlining last night was new local classic metal quartet The Hydra's Teeth, so how did they sound? The obvious comparison to make is with Late & Loud, but the new band has more of a power metal and Iron Maiden influence, and was overall more melodic, but whether that's better or not is for you to decide. I enjoyed them flat out, and the fact that they covered no L&L songs is a sign that they're their own animal! In fact, all but their last song (a cover of "Hallowed Be Thy Name") were originals, including tracks like "The Circle", "Army of Bones", and "Siren's Call", and the guys nailed them with a lot of enthusiasm and attitude! Brendan Christie has a better singing range than Jon Tiberi did in Late & Loud, and he put it to good use last night, making the most of it with some good falsettos in the process, but the Iron Maiden cover wasn't a good fit for his vocals. His and Anthony Orazietti's guitar work was great though, and Roy Kreutzberger's tested drum talents came in handy, including during a drum solo! Great first set from The Hydra's Teeth, and hopefully we'll hear more from them soon!

Overall, this was an entertaining and well-recieved concert that hopefully left a good first impression for the debuting bands! I did get photos and videos of each band, so visit this link to see the photos or our Facebook page, but the videos, I'm trying something a little different. As Facebook now allows external embedding of uploaded videos (this was quietly enabled last month), and because of YouTube's copyright rules, I'm gonna try splitting videos between YouTube and Facebook and see how it goes. Basically, if I film a show with or upload material with covers, I'll put them on Facebook, and if it's all original, it'll go on YouTube. Plus, this way, we'll hopefully get more hits and views of our Facebook page, so we'll see how it goes, and if it doesn't fly, I can always post said videos on YouTube later! With that said, here's my videos from last night, of The Danger Cats covering Hole's "Celebrity Skin", Haggith playing "Metal Cage", and The Hydra's Teeth playing "Live By The Axe Or You'll Die By The Sword"!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, and either tomorrow night or Monday for stuff on Glitch's debut and more! Thanks everyone!

One more post before we review last night's Hydra's Teeth-headlined concert at The Algonquin Pub, so what's in store? We've got a new video from a Sault Michigan band, a handful of other recent news and notes, and first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month and TONIGHT!

Toronto hard rock quartet Riding Shotgun will return to Sault Ontario TONIGHT for a show at The Rockstar Bar! Apologies for the short notice, I only just heard about this show via advertising at the venue when I was there last night, but it's been public through band sources since last month. You may remember Riding Shotgun from their headlining gig at The Canadian Nightclub last August (ironically, one I also learned about first through physical posters), but they have a solid and radio friendly hard rock sound and great guitar work that should carry them to another popular set tonight! Fellow Toronto hard rockers Last Bullet will open tonight's show with their own attitude fueled blend of originals, and I like the groove in their videos, so don't miss out on their set either! Tonight's show should have a 10:00 PM-ish start time and a 19+ age limit, while I've heard nothing about a special entry fee, so bring around $5. For more details, click here! Even though this concert completely slipped me by until last night, I won't pass judgement as to why, I'm just glad to see more out of town hard rock action in the Soo!

If you've got nothing else planned for this Saturday, be at The Rockstar Bar for the return of Riding Shotgun (plus Last Bullet), as this should be a great show! For a preview, here's Riding Shotgun live earlier this spring!

Next up, Kinross hard rockers Banned will return to Dondee Lanes in Sault Michigan for a full weekend on October 4th & 5th! Announced on their Facebook page last night, these are currently their only announced regional "jobs" prior to November, and they'll also be their first live appearances inside this local bowling alley & concert venue in almost 7 months. Banned's prolific stage show and mix of hard rock covers and originals should be another fun sight at the Dondee in two weeks, so don't miss these shows if you can help it! Both nights have earlier start times of 8:00 PM, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the above links! With their Grand Rapids show coming next weekend, it'll be nice to have the Traynors and company back on regional turf for their Dondee return next month, so keep those shows in mind for next month, and stay tuned for more from Banned!

Also today, here's the latest video from Sault Michigan hard rock band The Highest of Fives! This is a new trailer for their long gestating independent short film "Bang!" (also the name of their planned debut album), and it was uploaded to their YouTube channel on Wednesday. This gives us our best glimpse yet as to the plot and tone of the film, which seems to center around guitarist Marcel "Crusty Puck" Grengs being kicked out of home and moving in with drummer Mike Pascoe, and havoc occurs in the process. It's definitely still a comedy, and there's a likability present, so we'll have to see what comes of this when it finally get released in full! At least one song of theirs is sampled in the video, but we still don't have a major glimpse at their music independent of the film (though all members but Jack Slater have recently been playing more general rock with local solo musician Travis Theel, which you can check out at this link.) For now, give The Highest of Fives' newest trailer a look below, and keep an eye out for more updates!

Finally, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:

If you were curious on a timeframe for The Canadian Nightclub's planned re-opening from the flood damages, it looks like it'll take longer than the 2011 renovations did. On Tuesday, Canadian DJ Jay Perron said in response to a query on their Facebook group about where fans should go now, "Give it a few months.. We'll keep ya's posted." That would imply it will be closed through at least mid-November, but nothing more specific is out publically. Stay tuned in case we hear anything!

Even though they just debuted last night at The Algonquin Pub, new all female rock quartet The Danger Cats are already exploring adding a new drummer, with Kate Kougar moving to guitar and/or vocals if they secured one. To fit the band's theme, they would prefer female candidates, and if you're interested in trying out, message the band at this link! Thanks to Jamie Jaguar (via my mom) for the heads-up!

In their first major updates since the Airbourne concert, local hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that they're self-recording some songs & are hoping to have enough to release a full debut CD rather than one of EP length, and while they've been busy in studio lately, they hope to have more to reveal soon, while also sharing a Facebook-only video of them (and guest bassist Brandon Uhl) covering Rev Theory's "Hell Yeah" at Rotaryfest. Solid video, and it's great to hear they're hard at work, so stay tuned for updates!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our review of last night's Hydra's Teeth/Haggith/Danger Cats show later today! Thanks everyone!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Before we get into this post, I wanted to apologize for missing a late band addition for last weekend's Walk To Rock Against Bullying in Sault Michigan, as local hard rock trio Power Slug were added to the lineup the day before, as per frontman Chris Leask's personal Facebook page. As they don't have online pages, this was easy to miss, but still I apologize for missing the announcement! No word though on if they replaced an announced act. Now, here's our second weekend concert preview post for this weekend, covering Sault Michigan concerts (and the Sault Ontario shows we couldn't fit in yesterday), including a major show on Sunday across the river, so read on below for the previews!

In our last of the weekend's Sault Ontario hard rock concert previews, newer local quintet The Thrill Junkies will play their second & third local dates TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT in their Roosevelt Hotel debuts! Coming off of their successful local launch at The Nicolet Tavern last week (and their Spanish gigs), the band featuring 4 members each of Turner Up's last & Havadder's 2012 lineups should have a great weekend of hard rock covers in store for their fans at The Rosie this weekend, so if you missed their Spanish dates or last weekend's show, keep this weekend's events in mind! Both shows have 10:00 PM start times, you must be 19 to attend either night, and there's no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Things seem to be going well for this new band, so don't miss their Rosie debuts this weekend, and when postable and embeddable media comes out of them in action, we'll have it here!

Now to our Sault Michigan hard rock concert previews, starting with the return of Cheboygan hard rock trio Driven to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen in St. Ignace (or any Eastern U.P. venue) in early May, this talented veteran band will be playing just their third & fourth regional dates since drummer Kurt Beard returned to their lineup, and if you're familiar with their past trips north, you'll know the fun covers that they'll bring to the table this weekend, so keep them in mind! Admission should be free, you must be 21 to attend either show, and there's a 9:00 PM start time. For more details, visit their Facebook page! It's nice to see Driven back in our territory after their summer away from the U.P., and hopefully there's a solid crowd in the St. Ignace Kewadin tonight and tomorrow for Driven! If we come across video of their live show, you know we'll have it here!

Back in the Soo, Kinross hard/classic rockers Banned will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen there six months ago, Alex, Don, and company remain one of the most frequent live concert sights in the Eastern U.P., but these will be their last "jobs" in the Sault area before taking a road trip down to Grand Rapids for their furthest away show yet next weekend, so just in case, don't miss this weekend's action! Admission should also be free for this weekend's dates, you also must be 21 to attend, and 9:00 PM start times are likely. For more details, visit the above links! It's always good to see Banned rocking the Soo, and hopefully they rock The Rapids Lounge hard this weekend, so keep it in mind for your weekend plans, and for a preview, here's Banned playing their song "Deadbeat Dog" in Charlevoix last month!

Finally for the weekend schedule, it's the latest major headlining concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the aforementioned Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as San Francisco hard rock notables Night Ranger will make their local debut (I believe) THIS SUNDAY NIGHT! Best known for hit songs like "Sentimental Street", "Goodbye", and (of course) "Sister Christian", this multi-platinum selling quintet should have plenty of hard edged classics and catchy ballads in store for their local fans, and it'll be good to have them in the area on Sunday! Former Bad English frontman John Waite will open this show with a solo set, and while most of his music has leaned to rock & AOR sounds, you may best know his own work from his hit song "Missing You", but don't let that scare you off, as he can rock with the best of them! Tickets are still available from the second row and back for $48.50 (seated) or $38.50 (general), and you can buy them at this location, by phone at 1-800-KEWADIN, or in person at the Kewadin box office. Check the above links for more details!

Note that there's no hard rock shows for The Dreammaker's Theater that are currently announced for the rest of the year, so this could be your last chance to see a big ticket hard rock show there until 2014, and Night Ranger should appeal to hair metal and classic rock fans on Sunday! We'll have fallout from the show when/if it comes in, and for a preview, here's Night Ranger playing "Sentimental Street" live earlier this year!

That's all for today, but in case there's no new updates later tonight, I'll see you guys at The Algonquin Pub TONIGHT for The Hydra's Teeth, Haggith, and The Danger Cats, and if all goes well, upstairs at The Rockstar Bar for Glitch too for at least a spell! Thanks everyone!